The NHL is reportedly considering an outdoor game at Lake Louise to start next season

BarDown Staff

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Because of the coronavirus pandemic, the NHL schedule has been pushed back into the late year, with action only opening on draft and free agency this week. It’s October!

Looking forward to next season, the NHL is expected to have an unusual start date around early 2021, and it sounds like an extremely unusual — but definitely exciting — option is being put on the table.

Per the Toronto Star’s Mark Zwolinski, the league is considering opening the season on January 1st, with an outdoor game to be played at the iconic Lake Louise ODR in Alberta.

According to an industry source who requested anonymity in order to speak freely, Alberta’s Lake Louise — with its famous Rocky Mountain backdrop — has been discussed internally as a possible location for opening day.https://t.co/qxQCNIJybE
— Toronto Star (@TorontoStar) October 10, 2020

“The discussions are in the preliminary stage and the Lake Louise outdoor game scenario, while postcard beautiful, would face several hurdles, starting with the state of the COVID-19 pandemic when play resumes,” reports Zwolinski.

While this idea is far from anything locked in by the NHL, how cool would it be to see players take the ice in front of the Rockies to ring in the new season? If fans aren’t able to be in attendance by the start of next season, then that at least opens up the opportunity to play at one of the world’s most legendary ODRs instead of the usual stadium settings.

Of course, we know for ourselves how great the Lake Louise ODR is, after making it one of the stops of our last Enterprise Ultimate Hockey Road Trip.